There are several MMORPGs available at the moment and many of the good ones are either subscription-based or have a steep one-time fee. Guild Wars 2 is no different, with the core game, plus current expansions costing a one-time fee of $29. That can be a bit heavy on a player not sure about the quality of the game. Luckily, Guild Wars 2 has a Free to Play option, and this guide will inform you exactly what limitations and restrictions it places on the player.
Classes
In the Free to Play game, all base or vanilla classes are free and unlocked. You are limited to only two character slots and there are eight classes in total, namely:
- Elementalist
- Engineer
- Guardian
- Mesmer
- Necromancer
- Ranger
- Thief
- Warrior
Your characters also only have 3 Bag Slots available per character which means your inventory space is very limited.
Regions and Region Level Caps
Free to Play accounts can access all of Central Tyria, which is what the base game offers as well. However, unlike those players with a full account, you are limited to remaining in the starting area until you’ve reached level 10 and the city of Lion’s Arch will only be accessible from level 35.
Communicating
You’ll be limited to mail only between yourself and people on your friend list. You will be unable to send any gold or items, but you can receive them.
You will also be limited to whispers between friends and those on the same map as you. If that person isn’t your friend, you’ll have a 30-second cooldown between messages. Map chat is only there to be read, you cannot message and Squad chat doesn’t unlock until you’re level 30. If you’re in PvP, you can only chat in the lobby after reaching PvP rank 20, and you’ll be unable to chat in anything but Team Chat during PvP games.
Guild Halls, PvP, and Raids
While you won’t be able to access any of the other expansion content like gliding and mounts, you can enter the Guild Halls of HOT. You will however not be able to enhance the hall. You can withdraw from the Guild Bank if you have SMS or app authentication. When in PvP you can only access Custom and Unranked Arenas until you’ve hit PvP Rank 20. World vs. World or WvW is only unlocked across your account once any character hits level 60, and your LFG tool is unlocked by individual characters hitting level 30.
Raids are not an option on a Free to Play account.
Daily Logins, Gem Store, and Additional Features
Free to Play accounts do not receive the Daily Login Bonus which gives a variety of free items throughout the month. You can access the Gem Store to purchase cosmetic items but you will be wholly unable to purchase skins for things like gliders and mounts which are locked to the expansions. Additionally, you can exchange Gems for gold, but you cannot buy Gems with gold. Also, note that you cannot purchase any gems for a holding period of 72 hours after account creation.
The Trading Post will allow you to purchase and list items from a limited list.
You cannot transfer your Worlds, which means once you’ve selected a World, you will be stuck in that region during any WvW activities and won’t be able to play with your friends. Finally, you will also be unable to post on the Forums.
